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Vacation
by Lianne Burwell
November 1998
Revised March 2003
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Luke Skywalker stood at the top of the great pyramid on 
Yavin Four, looking out over the jungle that surrounded the 
small outpost in a sea of life. The last of the daylight 
was fading, painting the greenery with shades of orange and 
red. Down below, he could hear the shouts and laughs of his 
students, enjoying their free time before the evening meal. 
He closed his eyes and let the force inherent in the 
pyramid and the abundant life of the planet sink in, 
calming him with its ancient solidity. He sighed, and tried 
to let go of the mild depression that had become all too 
familiar over the years. In the back of his mind, he 
wondered what he was doing up here, feeling melancholy, 
instead of being down below, with everyone else.

The answer was that he was lonely. Even in the middle of a 
crowd, he felt alone. To his students he was Master 
Skywalker, teacher. To his peers, even the ones he fought 
beside in the Rebellion, he was Luke Skywalker, last of the 
old Jedi Knights, first of the new, and war hero. To 
politicians of the new Republic, he was either a potential 
enemy or a potential tool. To just about everyone else he 
was a legend, and one didn't get too close to legends. The 
only ones who didn't treat him that way were his sister, 
Leia, her husband, Han, their children, his old wingman, 
Wedge, and Lando Calrissian, who wasn't awed by anyone. But 
they were all far away.

Callista hadn't treated him that way either. He'd fallen in 
love with her when she had only been a ghost, existing 
inside an ancient computer, attracted by her sharp mind, 
force energy, and determination. Then, when one of his 
students had followed her lover into death, Callista had 
been able to take her body, becoming corporeal again. But 
once back in physical form, she'd been unable to touch the 
force. He'd done everything he could to help her, but it 
hadn't been enough. Finally, she had left him, going off on 
a quest to try to relearn what she had once known.

It had been months before he'd heard from her again, and 
then it was only a warning for his sister. Still, he'd done 
his best to find her. But in the end she'd sent a message 
through Leia. They didn't belong together anymore. It had 
been like a blade through his heart, but he had accepted. 
He'd returned to Yavin Four, to the Jedi Academy. He'd 
thrown himself into his duties there, but deep in his 
heart, he'd hoped that Callista would come back to him.

She hadn't, and after a year he'd finally accepted that she 
wasn't going to.

He was alone, and seemed likely to stay that way.

* * * * *

A few days later he had set aside the self-pity fest. In 
his mind he could hear his teacher, Master Yoda, warning 
that the darker emotions led to the dark side of the Force. 
He'd been there once and had no desire to visit a second 
time.

Instead he concentrated on his students and his own 
studies. They had received a shipment of data disks from a 
Jedi temple out near the rim that had been abandoned before 
the Emperor's purge, and had escaped destruction as a 
result. They were not the originals, of course, but the 
archaeologists had been willing to send copies. He was 
reading through them all, even though most dealt simply 
with the day to day running of the temple, looking for 
clues to the training methods of the ancient Jedi. His one 
great fear was failing his students, since all he really 
had to work on was the training he had received himself 
from Obi-Wan and Yoda, which had been far too brief. From 
his reading he knew that in the days before the Emperor, 
Jedi apprentices had trained for many years, starting as 
children, before becoming Jedi Knights.

But he did not want to be too bound by the old traditions. 
What had worked in the past was not necessarily the best 
way now. However, you could not make that decision without 
knowing what those traditions had been.

Luke was in the courtyard, supervising a group of students 
as they practiced removing a single leaf from a pile. The 
exercise had two points: First, to identify the one leaf 
that did not match the rest in the pile, and second, to 
extract it while not disturbing the rest. One by one, each 
student worked their way through the exercise, effort and 
strain obvious on each face. Some might think this less 
impressive than shifting a stone as large as a spaceship, 
but it actually required as much, if not more effort. 
Certainly, it required much more control and finesse.

Speaking of spaceships... Luke looked up as a small ship 
descended towards the landing field near to the main 
pyramid which housed the academy. He quickly recognized the 
ship as the latest incarnation of Lady Luck, Lando 
Calrissian's ship. For some reason the man insisted on 
naming each of his ships the same, although he'd never 
explained why. Still, it was appropriate for a man who had 
started his career as a gambler, even though he was now a 
respectable businessman. Luke touched the Force, wondering 
if something was wrong to bring Lando here, but he didn't 
feel any disturbances that might indicate danger.
 
"Continue with the exercise," he instructed his students as 
he headed for the path to the landing field. As he moved 
through the jungle,  he wondered about what could have 
brought Lando to Yavin without sending a message first. 
Finally, he gave a rueful laugh. Speculation was pointless. 
He would know when Lando told him and not before.

"Luke!"

As he came up to the ship, he suddenly found himself swept 
into a crushing hug. He grinned as Lando pounded his back. 
There was something so cheerful about the man that it 
seemed to demand bright spirits from everyone around him. 
Even a Jedi master could not be immune to the man. Luke 
felt a knot inside loosen up at being around the man.

When Luke pulled back, Lando was grinning from ear to ear. 
"How are you doing, kid?" the man asked, swinging an arm 
around Luke's shoulders and heading towards the school. 
"Anything interesting happening lately?"

"No," Luke replied, shaking his head at being called a kid. 
Lando was the only one who did that anymore. Even Wedge 
just called him by name. "It's been quiet lately. Not that 
I'm complaining," he added quickly. "Quiet is very good."

"Yeah, but too much quiet can drive a man to drink. 
Besides, I know you. Quiet means that you're working 
yourself *twice* as hard."

"There's a lot to do," Luke said, a touch wistful. There 
was always a lot to do. Some days it seemed like he would 
never reach a time where he could sit back and say 'I'm 
done. Time to look for something new'. "And what about 
yourself? After all, how many businesses are you running 
these days? Not to mention the time you spend on diplomatic 
duty, the great war hero, General Calrissian."

Lando snorted at that. "War hero, my ass," he said as they 
moved into the courtyard. They were already focus of 
interest for many of the students. "Actually, that's why 
I'm here. My aides told me that I was working too hard and 
ordered me to take a vacation. Kicked me right out of my 
office and told me not to come back until I'd done some 
*proper* relaxing. Personally, I think they're trying to 
take control of the place away from me, but so what. 
They're right. But solitary vacations are dull, dull, dull. 
So I asked myself: Who do I know who needs a vacation just 
as badly?"

Lando turned and looked at Luke. Luke frowned at him, 
realizing what the man was suggesting. "No," he said 
firmly. "I couldn't..."

"Why not?"

The two men turned, almost jumping. Luke was surprised that 
he hadn't even felt the approach of his student. The 
silver-haired woman was one of his oldest students and one 
of his most valuable, although others were stronger in the 
Force. She might not have the strength of some of the 
others, but she had the calm and the caring to take care of 
children and new students dealing with an unfamiliar 
environment.

"Because there is too much to do here..." he said, but 
Tionne stopped him with a raised hand.

"Master Skywalker," she said in her soft voice. "You do 
work too hard. You never leave here anymore, unless you are 
going to help someone in trouble or answering a call from 
the Senate. A vacation would be a good thing for you."

"But the students..."

"You have trusted myself and others to teach in your 
absence before. Where is the difference between you leaving 
for a mission and leaving for a vacation? Go. We will be 
fine."

By this point several more of his older students had 
approached, all making sounds of assent. Luke thought of 
refusing anyway, then changed his mind. After all, it 
couldn't hurt, could it? Besides, they were ganging up on 
him, he thought with a small smile.

"How can I say no? All right, Lando. I guess you've got a 
travel companion."

Lando whooped in triumph.

* * * * *

Lando stowed Luke's bags in the Lady Luck's living 
compartment, listening with amusement to the stream of 
last-minute instructions that the Luke was giving his 
deputies. This was probably one of the few times that he 
had left Yavin Four where he wasn't either in a rush or 
distracted by what he was leaving to do. Tionne, the 
elderly Kam Solusar and the green-skinned clone, Dorsk 81 
all listened intently but with smiles. Several of Luke's 
students had already taken him aside to tell him that he 
should make sure that 'Master Skywalker' relaxed during the 
trip. Of course, they weren't the only ones. Leia had also 
promised him rewards if he could get her twin to actually 
have some fun for once when he'd contacted her about his 
plan, although she had little grounds to be complaining 
that her brother worked too hard considering how long it 
had been since she'd taken any time off, herself 

"Well, kid. Ready to go?"

Luke looked like he was considering changing his mind, so 
Lando grabbed his arm and hustled him up the ramp. Luke's 
students hurried away from the field, waving as they left.

Luke slipped easily into the co-pilot's seat as Lando 
started up the engines and prepared to lift off. He checked 
the indicators to make sure that all hatches were sealed 
and all systems were online. Next to him, Luke checked the 
weapons and environmental systems. When he was done he 
nodded to Lando and they were off.

The take-off was textbook perfection. As usual, Lando 
thought to himself. He might be an administrator these 
days, but he was still a damn good pilot. Once out of the 
atmosphere, he punched in the coordinates for the jump to 
hyperspace. For a moment the stars seemed to turn into 
streaks of color against the black background of space, 
then flattened out into the nothingness of hyperspace.

"So," Luke said as Lando shut down non-essential systems 
for the long glide through hyper-space. "Are you going to 
tell me where we're going? Or should I just guess?"

Lando grinned. "What, don't you trust me?" Luke snorted. 
Lando was pleased to see the lines of strain in the young 
man's face starting to ease. Luke was still barely more 
than a kid, as far as he was concerned, but he always 
seemed to have the weight of the galaxy resting on his 
shoulders. Being see as the last Jedi -- although that 
wasn't true any longer -- too many people expected him to 
solve all of their problems.

"Well, I thought we might head to Sandrica, in the Ohmos 
system," Lando said casually, then glanced over at Luke. "I 
hear it's a great vacation spot."

Luke shook his head, grinning. "And home to one of the 
biggest gambling emporiums in the sector," he pointed out.

"Detail, details." Lando replied with a wave of his hand. 
"*And* I have a friend there that says that they recently 
uncovered the ruins of one of the earliest settlements. He 
contacted me, since he's found what looks to be Jedi-
related artifacts. He figured that I would have better luck 
letting the right people know about them, since his 
excavation is privately funded, not through one of the big 
universities."

As he expected, Luke perked up at that. Even before he'd 
started the Jedi Academy, Luke had spent a great deal of 
time hunting for the remnants of the old Jedi society - 
especially their training techniques. As teacher to the 
next generation, he'd become even more intent on this 
quest. Unfortunately, the late and *very* unlamented 
Emperor Palpatine had also devoted a great deal of time to 
*destroying* anything to do with the Jedi. Needless to say, 
that made Luke's quest a difficult one.

Luke was now eyeing him suspiciously. "Why do I get the 
feeling that this *wasn't* a spur of the moment decision? 
Just how long have you been planning on this?"

Lando put on his best innocent look. The younger man 
obviously wasn't buying it, though. Finally Lando sighed. 
"Since Tronin contacted me, a few weeks back. You're not 
upset, are you?" He put on his best winning grin; the one 
that said that he couldn't be held responsible for his 
actions. It had gotten him out of a few sticky situations 
in the past, but he wasn't sure how much good it would do 
him against a Jedi Knight if Luke decided to take offense.

"No," Luke finally said with a smile. "You're right. I do 
need a vacation." His expression darkened. "Sometimes I 
feel like I haven't really had the chance to relax since I 
left home with Ben."

The sudden bleakness in Luke's tone worried Lando. He 
reached over and squeezed Luke's shoulder, and was rewarded 
with a soft smile. Yeah, getting Luke to take a vacation 
had definitely been a good idea.

* * * * *

They were almost ready to drop out orbit at the Ohmos 
system when the unthinkable happened. Of course if Han Solo 
was there to ask, he would have made a smart comment about 
it being inevitable, not unthinkable. No doubt followed by 
a few sharp comments about the ship's condition, against 
which Lando would make an impassioned defense, pointing out 
that if anything, the Millennium Falcon was in even worse 
shape, no matter how much time he and Chewie spent on it.

But no matter how much he defended ship, the flashing 
lights and sounding alarms said that there was a problem. 
Lando started cursing as he punched up readings on the data 
screen in front of him.

"What's going on?" Luke asked, coming from the back 
compartment. His hair was sticking in several directions 
and he was wearing only a loose pair of pants, testament to 
the fact that the young man had been taking a nap before 
their arrival at Sandrica.

"A fuel line is blocked. Temperatures in the fuel system 
are rising to dangerous levels. I'm dropping into normal 
space." His hands flashed across the familiar controls and 
outside the viewport star streaks appeared, then solidified 
into a stationary starfield.

"Shutting down the fuel system," Lando announced as he did 
so.

Luke checked the readouts, then nodded as the temperatures 
dropped back down to normal. "Do we call for help?" he 
asked, indicating the comm system with a jerk of his chin. 
This close to Sandrica there wouldn't be a problem getting 
a repair yard to send a tow-ship, it would just be 
expensive.

Lando checked the ship schematics, even though he had them 
memorized. "No, the blockage is in one of the areas we can 
get to from inside the ship. Let's see if we can deal with 
it ourselves before we call for a tow."

* * * * *

Dealing with the problem took nearly six hours of labor. 
Lando had several cabinets in the ship loaded with spare 
parts for the most commonly damaged systems, but thankfully 
they weren't be needed for this repair. All that was 
necessary was some elbow-grease and a lot work in tight 
quarters as they sealed off the affected systems, 
dismantled them and cleaned out the blockage, then 
reassembled everything.

After checking that the system was clean and functioning, 
they both indulged in sponge baths to wash off the 
resulting grime, a luxury on a small spaceship where there 
was only enough room to carry water supplies intended for 
consumption. Lando figured it was all right, since it would 
only take an hour to finish the trip to Sandrica, where 
they would be able to replace the water.

By the time they had washed and eaten, both men were 
yawning.

"Sleep, before we continue. Piloting while tired is a good 
way to end up dead," Lando said, pulling down the other 
fold-up bed in the passenger compartment. Never one to 
stint himself on luxuries, the beds were both spacious and 
well padded. Linens, pillows and blankets came from the 
cabinet revealed when one of the beds was pulled down.

Luke didn't protest. He just climbed back into the bed that 
he'd abandoned when the fuel system had gone on the blink. 
Lando changed into a loose pair of pants and followed his 
example.

It was strange, he thought to himself an hour later. 
Strange how you could be so exhausted that you were too 
tired to sleep. Lando rolled over for the umpteenth time 
and looked across the room to where Luke was sleeping.

It turned out that Luke *wasn't* sleeping. In the dim 
light, Lando could see the young man's eyes open and 
looking back at him. Luke's mouth curved into a lop-sided 
smile.

"Can't sleep either?"

"Too tired," Lando replied.

Luke turned onto his back, staring at the ceiling. His mood 
seemed to have turned bleak again, worrying Lando. He'd 
noticed for a while that Luke's moods seemed to turn dark 
more frequently than they had in the past. Lando couldn't 
help comparing Luke to the cheerful young farmer boy turned 
pilot and Jedi trainee that he'd first met, and according 
to Leia *that* young man had been much quieter than the 
brash kid who'd rescued her from the first Death Star.

"Lando? Why was it so important for you that I go on this 
vacation with you?"

Lando stayed quiet for a moment before replying. "Because 
you really need it. Ever since Callista... Well... You've 
seemed depressed, so I kept an eye out for an opportunity, 
and when it came I took it."

"Depressed? I... suppose so."

"Why, Luke? Is it just because of Callista leaving? Or is 
it more? C'mon, kid. You can tell *me*."

Luke snorted. "You know, you're one of the few I *can* 
tell. Not many confessors for 'Skywalker, Jedi Knight, Hero 
of the Rebellion' out there. Not many people see past that, 
or even *want* to."

Lando closed his eyes, thinking of his own dealings with 
people who saw only 'General Calrissian, hero' as well. Or 
worse, 'Rogue and thief who'd fooled the universe into 
thinking he was a hero.' "I know how you feel," he said 
wryly.

"Do you really? At least there are people who remember you 
from before the Rebellion. Most of the people I knew are 
dead. And even the ones who see you as 'hero' aren't 
*afraid* of you. That hurts the most, you know. The ones 
who draw away, partly in awe, but mostly in fear of me and 
what I can do. It makes for a lonely life."

Lando sighed. "You're not the only one, kid. I might have 
more opportunities, but they don't want me, they want the 
war hero, the man with connections, and it isn't enough. It 
would be nice to be wanted for just me for a change."

"Who do *you* want?" Luke asked, propping himself up on one 
elbow. "Have you ever considered that? Pursuing someone 
*you* want, that is."

Lando smiled at the ceiling. "Oh, there's been a few. None 
of them really obtainable, though, so I haven't pursued 
them."

"Like who?" Luke sounded genuinely curious and no longer 
quite as depressed.

"Winter."

"Winter. As in the intelligence officer who bodyguards Han 
and Leia's kids? *That* Winter?"

Lando laughed. "Not very practical, is it?" Winter was a 
beautiful woman, but she was also as cold as her name, and 
as deadly under the right circumstances as well.

"Who else?"

"Mara Jade, not that she'd give me the time of day. She's 
made that *quite* clear." Vader's former assassin was a 
beautiful, fiery redhead with the temper to match. "Leia, 
if she weren't so obviously in love with Han." As he'd 
quickly realized back on Bespin, although he'd continued to 
flirt with her, just to get Han worked up.

"I see what you mean by unobtainable. Anyone else?"

Lando kept silent for a moment, wondering if he should say 
it. Why not, he finally decided. After all, he *was* a 
gambler. "You."

Dead silence.

"Me?"

Lando smiled. Luke's voice had practically squeaked. For 
once, Luke actually sounded younger than his age. "Yes, 
you. Why not? The first time I *really* got a look at you I 
had just dragged you through the Falcon's access hatch from 
that antenna that you were hanging from, beneath Cloud 
City. You were missing a hand, battered and bruised and 
barely conscious, and all I could think was that you were 
beautiful. The more I got to know you, the more I realized 
that you *were* beautiful, in every sense of the word."

"You never said anything."

"I didn't think that I had a chance and your friendship was 
too valuable to risk." And he'd always thought that Luke's 
Jedi powers had let him know about his feelings and he was 
simply politely ignoring it.

More silence, followed by the rustle of linen. Lando turned 
his head and saw Luke get up and cross the room. He moved 
over, silently, making room for Luke to climb in next to 
him. Luke moved just close enough that they were touching, 
both looking up at the ceiling.

"You had more than just a chance." The voice was quiet, but 
the words seemed to ring out in the room. "You are one of 
the few people that I truly trust, with my life and more."

Lando rolled over so that he was looking down into Luke's 
face. He reached a finger to trace Luke's cheekbone, 
distracted for a moment by the contrast between his dark 
skin and Luke's paleness in the dim light.

"Are you sure?"

Luke's lips curled into a small, slightly sad smile. "I'm 
tired of being alone, Lando."

Lando lowered his head slowly, watching for any signs of 
hesitation. There were none, so he gave into urges that had 
become oh-so-familiar over the last decade. He dropped his 
face down until their lips met, first brushing against each 
other lightly, then sealing together. The contact flashed 
through his nerves like the finest of liquors, like the 
high of glitterstim. He was drowning and he didn't care. 
All he cared was that a dream was being realized.

Oxygen deprivation finally forced them apart. Lando looked 
into Luke's eyes and saw what almost looked like... awe. He 
brushed his fingers through the blond hair, smiling. Then a 
yawn forced its way out, and suddenly his fatigue was 
overwhelming.

Luke laughed, a sound filled only joy and amusement this 
time. "Go to sleep, Lando. We've got all the time in the 
world. After all, isn't this one of the things that 
vacations are for?"

"Yeah," Lando said with a grin, his eyes already drifting 
shut. A vacation with no timetable. A lot of time for...

* * * * *

Luke watched Lando as he fell asleep. He could feel his own 
fatigue trying to drag him into slumber, but wanted to 
resist for a while. Instead, he examined his companion's 
face. Lando's lips were swollen from the kiss they'd 
exchanged moments ago, and they curved into a beautiful 
smile.

Lando. He never would have expected this from the man. But 
there was no denying the man's sincerity. He genuinely 
wanted Luke, and not just as a bedmate. Many people 
considered the man to be a playboy, but Luke couldn't 
remember the last time he'd seen him in the company of a 
lover. No, Lando kept to himself most of the time, 
surrounded only by close friends.

And just as he couldn't deny the man's sincerity, he 
couldn't deny how... right this felt. Like he'd suddenly 
turned around and seen something that had been patiently 
waiting to be noticed all this time. Well, he'd finally 
noticed and he had no intentions of letting *this* chance 
slip through his fingers.

Lando shifted in his sleep and his arms tightened, drawing 
Luke in closer. The sleeping man made a noise of 
contentment, which Luke echoed.

No, he thought. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

Luke snuggled in closer to Lando and closed his eyes. Sleep 
carried him away, warm and safe in Lando's arms.

This vacation was going to be *wonderful*.

TO BE CONTINUED